Railway switch heater



Sept. 29, 1942.

T. J. HEGEMAN RAILWAY SWITCH. HEATER 2 Sheets-Shet 1 Filed May 8, 1941 P 1942- T. J HEGEMAN 1 2,297,059

7 I I RAILWAY SWITCH HEATER Filed May 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 29, 1942 i UNITED PATENT OFFICE 2,297,059 RAI AY WITCH Bea e- EB Theodore J. Hegeman, Aim, 111. Application May s, 1941, Serial u Beats;

1 ohm. (01115 -5941.

l\ /ly present invention relates to a portable .unitary heater, and .is particularly concerned with the heating of switches of railway tracks to prevent the accumulation of' ice and Snow about such switches during severewinter weather, also forthe melting of any such accumulation in case it should occur.

My invention contemplates and' provides an improved heater which effectively and .sati'sf acs torily solves the switch heating problem."

An object of my invention 'is to'provide a simpglifled. and generally improved railway track switch heater.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved railway track switch heater comprising a compact and effective fuel burner.

Another object is to provideanimproved railway track switch heater .having'thebody thereof formed as a fuel container adapted tohave a minimum area of ,contact witha tie surface, ad. jacent to which the heater vis installed and .presenting a maximum area' ofheat dissipating'surface.

Another object is to provide an improved,

sturdy,acompact railway trackvswitch heateriwith x a wick-container andvcomb'ustionihead, constructed and arranged for maximum strength" and simplicity, which cooperate to sustain a name which occupies approximately thetentire area of theupperopen end of such combustion head.

Anotherobject of my invention is to provide a track switch heater with a ,wick holder and combustion head icooper'ating" to sustain a flame which swirls upwardlyin the combustion head and occupies substantially the entire-area of the upper open end thereof. l

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description andthe accompanying drawings in'which ,sim ilar characters of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a conventional type of railway track switch, showing a number of'heaters embodying my invention installed beneath the .rails at suitable points for mai ntaining a proper temperature to prevent ,and dis'pel accumulations of sleet, snow and ice on the switch during periods of inclement weather;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of a heater embodying the presentinvention, as it would appear in operation, a fragment of a rail against which the flameis' arranged to impinge also beinglillustrated in perspective; 4

Fi .3 is an enlar ed ragmen ar sect ona iewltalsein aslontneiplane fof theli e' .3 o ig.1;

Rig. 4 is afurtherenlargedsectional view taken as on the plane'of (the line I4'-T4 OI Fi -$3 .26

" F s is amen ie l t /tubu a apere s ot- ,t wick h l er m loyed 'n'i e h at r illustratedinFigslto' l'; incl ,4 ,e.

' yRferfihg'tb he dr i n deta t heate n'mn i s ho yp r J! o re a ively hea y siie me't fsu h asior ins a e .No: ..l tandar U :5. "gauge .steelt' lhe .bovdy .iior iqn I I may be formed n sia ene al vtoval shape a ibest 1.1- vlustratediii Fiesl and 3 th ater? and fi tom sue-races of ,theibedy be 1e su stantially fiat a d the sides.beine.rouhdedia v lu l ated- The body 'n cti nconveni n. fla b made by fla tenin ithelopjancpottom'of apiece of q dinamiround. welded-seam'ituf ue, and is pr v ded with ov l ends [2 wh ch mayhem rp nched ir in sheet metal'ofapproximately the same thilclgnesjs as the dy p rtion .I The endsln era ly ar Welded tojthe bndylasat 3 to f fi ll -c i a It will .benoild'in .73 that the rounded sides ply H1 contact the side of a the ter is Position d; al n I 8 and that h rounded side o theheaite bodyflare .iixl yjei osed t the atmo pher ihoth (below an a ov th sin le lin 0 "pi fs b je con ac w I able, so a o prov de an ext m ly areeheat d s i tin a eafl' roagai st the scor hineier ver ea m lofv t de of atiea ainstwhich the he t r may be p sitioned, landlpermi amax um .d

l sfipatienfoinheat from w the heater, which tends to isethe temperatiirejof the atmospherein the j hi s of the en; en adids .t th fiver-a eff ciency ofvthe heater. v

' An p nin MLEis-AJS provi ed in th body 40,

is. insertedsa; fillerlpipe |5','through which'j'a supply pflio'il; L9; may be intrqduced into the body Y of thenheaterl H I a i i lwl in lfii A clo u c p 1. is h n ed y ,'mountedfon the fil lerpipe i5; and is provided L with va spring, 18, whichijolds cap l1 normally in 'aplosedpg'siti" l I ad a ent a iefid the eo an n. t o e he fillerpipe I5 is secured in place on. tvhandlel fl is formed of steel rod, and

' .Afcarryi i vidediwithniver ine e d p rt ons 2| an 2 50,.

'spectively, 'weld'ed tothetop'ofjthe body portion which are swiveled 'beneath straps 23 and24, re-

,A wicksholder .26 is.made of sheet metal rolled intothe form of a tube, with edges,2,'| and .28 ithereof s lighfly separated. The wick-holder is constructed to have a larger diameter at its lower end so as to facilitate the manipulation of a wick 29 therein. The wick-holder is mounted in an opening 30 in the top of the body portion H andv wall portion, which may be welded as at 33 to the top surface of the body portion l I. The wall lower margin thereof which in the illustrated of the head 32 is provided with air inlets 'at the heater comprise a pair of notched openings 34 on each side of the head. These openings preferably are located closely adjacent afvertical.

plane transversely of the body portion ll, so that air, entering the openings will sweep across the lower end of the combustion head toward the wick. When the heater is installed for use; as illustrated in Fig. 3, the openings 34 will be protected against the direct impact of any wind which may be blowing. This protection is afforded due to the fact that when the heater'is in position between the ties, the ties themselves protect the entire heater from blasts blowing from either side, while the location of the notched openings 34 on the sides of the heater protects them from the direct impact of wind blowing from either end of the heater.

depleted to such an extent that it does not reach the wick 29. In such case, of course, the wick will become charred, but it is a simple matter to pull the wick up in the wick holder 26 as desired by inserting a pointed instrument such as the point of a knife or a wire, not illustrated, in the slot between the edges 21 and 28, and thereby to pry the wick upwardly in the wick holder as required.

I prefer to use a soft cotton wick with braided cover, and of a size to be gripped somewhat by the upper end of the tube 26, so as to be secured thereby against accidental displacement lengthwise of the tube.

It will be noted in Fig. 4 that the planes defined by the end surfaces of the wick holder 26 are approximately perpendicular to each other,

so that when the plane of the upper end of the Wick holder is disposed horizontally, as illus- The location of the air inlets on opposite sides of the combustion head in the above manner has the further and desirable feature of causing an observed swirling and spreading of the flame as it emerges from the upper end of the combustion head. This is a most efiective form of structure for the intended use, and results in high track heating effectiveness.

A cover plate 35 is pivotally mounted on the top of the head 32 as by means of a pin 36 welded to the inside of the head. The pin 36 preferably is provided with a spring washer 31 to exert a resilient pressure on the cover 35, and thereby assists in maintaining the cover in adjusted position. The cover is of a size to completely close the top of the combustion headv when moved to a closed position, and in such closed position, protects the combustion head and wick against the entrance of snow or sleet to which the heater might be exposed when not lighted, as for instance on storage platforms, on cars, or if left in place between the ties when not in use. The cover is also useful in adjusting the amount of heat imparted to the rails, and may be used to extinguish the flame by completely closing the cover.

In using my heaters, they may be positioned between adjacent ties 38 and 39 as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the heaters preferably being positioned so that the tops of the combustion heads 32 are positioned approximately one or.

in'ordinary use, provided the supply of fuel in. "the body portion II is not allowed to become trated in Fig. 4, the plane of the lower end will be substantially vertical, so that the wick 29, .in issuing from the bottom of the tube, will lie along the bottom of the container H. This insures that the wick 29 will be in the oil 19 even when the oil in the container l I is very low, and even in case the body portion Il may not be exactly level.

In use, the heaters are disposed between the ties along the rails and switch elements of a switch connecting a main track here illustrated or comprising the rails 4|] and 4|, with a second track comprising the rails 42 and 43. The heaters are positioned principally along the movable portions of the track elements comprising the switch so as to maintain these elements and the tie-plates, such as the plates 44 and 45 in Fig. 3, free from ice and snow.

The. heaters are easily and cheaply made, are rugged, and may be stored even in the open air without damage, providing the covers 35 are closed to protect the burner shells against the elements. Such protection is of course needed only when the heater is not lighted, since when burning, the heat of the flame will melt and vaporize any snow, sleet or rain which may find its way into the combustion head.

' Heaters embodying my invention are easily heater resides in the fact that its characteristic flattened tube form (elliptical cross-section) enables me to place it in operating position, be-

tween standard ties, without performing any excavation between those ties.

This is a very real advantage, because the heater naturally is used only in cold. weather.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, butdesirejo avail myself of all changes withinthe scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of th United States is:

In a portable heater for railway tracks and the like, a liquid .fuel container comprising a generally oval tubular metal member having substantially flat upper and lower walls, and'a in said wick aperture, and depending into said container for engagement with liquid fuel therein, and a burner head cover comprising a metal plate adapted to cover the end of the burner head, said plate being pivotally mounted on an axially projecting headed pin carried by the wall of said head, and resilient means between the head of said pin and the cover to urge the cover into better closure with the end of said burner 10 head.

THEODORE J. HEGEMAN. 

